Thursday 7 August 2014

No 11157, Thursday 07 Aug 2014, Gridman


More samosas for the samosa hoggers. (Advice from Dr Jaggu last evening "The average potato filled Samosa contains 350 calories. Hence it qualifies as junk food."!!)

ACROSS
1   Diplomat secures ouster of premier spy (7) ATTACHE ATTACHEs
5   Funny business service? (6) COMICS {COM}{ICS}
9   Not cornered? Drinks for everyone! (5) ROUND [DD]
10 Go beyond collapsed cans in drift (9) TRANSCEND {TR{CANS*}END}
11 Concession to that man overlooking second false argument (7) SOPHISM {SOP}{HI{S}M}
12 Underwriter, fashionable and more certain (7) INSURER {IN}{SURER}
13 Heading for championship (5) TITLE [DD]
14 Wicked endless sound made about a fire raging (9) NEFARIOUS {N{EFARI*}OUSd*}
16 Assesses ties destroyed by agitated teams (9) ESTIMATES [TIES*}{TEAMS*}
19 Farewell to a god in France (5) ADIEU {A}{DIEU}
21 Very big firm backing a nice revamping (7) OCEANIC {OC<=}{A+NICE*}
23 Bakery worker fluid about a place to skate (3,4) ICE RINK {ICE R}{INK}
24 Land of Hope? (9) RURITANIA [GK]
25 Nicaragua company stocks antidote to snakebite (5) GUACO [T]
26 Outer limits drawn back on church soil (6) SMIRCH {SMIR<=}{CH}
27 Boy possessing drive becomes doctor (7) SURGEON {S{URGE}ON} I wonder if this boy finally did become one?

DOWN
1   How chess players move the men (6-3-5) ACROSS-THE-BOARD [CD]

2   Proclaim Russian politician will be in Vietnamese festival (7) TRUMPET {T{RU}{MP}ET}
3   Footloose bed I need to rummage for opium product (7) CODEINE {COt}{I+NEED}*
4   Foreign restaurant — Gridman's — has unusual taste about it (9) ESTAMINET {ESTA{MINE}T*}
5   Fur on one tropical mammal (5) COATI {COAT}{1}
6   One ponders about one son being a maltreater (7) MISUSER {M{1}{S}USER}
7   Goodbye, frankfurter! (7) CHEERIO [DD]
8   Speech not heard of why letter was not delivered (7,7) ADDRESS UNKNOWN {ADDRESS} {UNKNOWN}



             
                                               Cartoon by Rishi
 15 Lives fast, taking part in celebrations (9) FESTIVALS*
17 The more unusual form of mathematical proposition (7) THEOREM*
                                              Cartoon by Bhargav
18 Day rest spoilt by ugly creature (7) MONSTER {MON}{REST*}
19 Claim about tribal leaving nothing to retribution seeker (7) AVENGER {AVE{oNGE}R}
20 Act just like one friend swallowing the thing (7) IMITATE {1}{M{IT}ATE}
22 Military head's hot? That's a certainty! (5) CINCH {C-IN-C}{H}

GRID

44 comments:

  1. 27 Boy possessing drive becomes doctor (7) SURGEON {S{URGE}ON} I wonder if this boy finally did become one?

    Looks like he was 'cut out' to be a surgeon.

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  2. I am told the urge augured him to argue with his dad to put him in medical school.

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  3. 1D- I put in 'Around the board' and got caught in that corner. Around also fits, doesn't it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cricketers move around the field. Chess men move across the board. There is no circular movement involved? I am not able to explain grammatically.

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    2. http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/across+the+board

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    3. Logically Chessmen can move around the board especially when a stalemate is reached

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    4. Round table conferences may lead to a stalemate. But when a decision is to be reached we discuss across the table!!

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  4. The other day I wondered about the origin of the word 'tiffin'. In today's CH edn of ToI, there is an article on 'tiffin' which mentions that this colonial phrase is claimed to be a corruption of 'tiffing' - taking a little drink or sip.
    Tiffing - tiffin'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it is a corruption of 'Tea and Muffin' .

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    2. A few days ago, I commented on this ! No tiff in here though with you CV !

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  5. 1 How chess players move the men (6-3-5) ACROSS-THE-BOARD [CD]

    I get the wordplay, but where is the definition in the clue? Would something like this have made the clue "complete"

    1 How chess players move the men in general (6-3-5)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Isn't the entire clue itself the definition?

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    2. I agree with Bhavan that it might be an unfinished clue but, as written, in itself, it appears to be a clue that may be passed - or passed off!

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    3. Across-the-board is an adjective meaning 'applying in all cases'. I see 'How chess players move the men' as a punny wordplay to indicate 'across the board', but not sure that 'defines' the answer.

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  6. Missed yesterday, but not today! My Chai and Samosas!! Thank you Gridman for a wonderful offering. :-)))

    Dr Jaggu's advice noted but I don't get to eat Samosas often! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's why I like Mutton samosas better. Hogged quite a few of them which I sourced from the Mosque road area in Bangalore during the Ramzan fasting period

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    2. Thanks Col for that Samosa :)

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    3. You were lucky to have visited me during that period

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  7. Except ROUND, got all. No samosas; yet enjoyed solving - Thanks Grindman!

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  8. Good for those who can't have samosas today!! A daily intake is obviously not good for you!
    Crossword was very enjoyable, of course, but the solutions and accompanying cartoons/video/comments are brilliant. Thank you.
    Elvis singing and gyrating to "Return to Sender" brought back a flood of memories from my school days - he was the first pop super star. So many adoring fans - even among us strictly brought up Convent girls!!

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  9. Rishi's cartoon for 8D reminded me of this anecdote:

    A passenger arrives at an airport check-in counter and tells the staff: ' I want you to send this red bag to Bahrain, the blue one to Buenos Aires, the green one to the Bahamas and beige-coloured..'

    'Excuse me, sir, we can't send things like that,' interrupted the man at the counter.

    'But you did exactly that the last time I travelled with you...' shot back the passenger.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That reminds of the excellent ad that we see nowadays on TV where a so called VIP announces at the airline counter 'Don't you know who I am?'. The response of the lady at the counter over the PA System is priceless

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    2. Don't recollect this one. What's the ad for?

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    3. Same here, shall let you know when I do

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  10. wrt to the cartoon at 1D, if they don't move they will get checkmated!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Queens do not get checkmated ...

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    2. Who is going to check...?

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    3. Someone may and then we will get intimated and they intimidated !!

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    4. It is an intimate secret so you may not get intimated

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  11. Enjoyed the song "Return to Sender - Address Unknown" sung by Elvis the Pelvis. Thanks Colonel Sir, for sharing the link/song with us. :)

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    Replies
    1. Nostalgic about divine college days! Superb song-a favourite of of all of us!

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    2. Awesome song it is... 50s and early 60s rock n roll has a certain vibe to it that really makes you feel up.

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  12. Quite enjoyable cw.clues are suggestive&indicative esp.1d,9,10&26a.though a brain-teaser in most of the cases it tickles our brain. Hence brain ticklerwill be apt. Thanks GM.

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  13. Wrt to interactive crosswords and goof - ups, The Guardian too does its bit. In this month's Guardian Genius, we were first informed that there were 7 straight cryptic clues. When I solved it, I found there were 8. They have now revised their note. Their interactive Java based grid is quirky. It allows saving sometimes and not some other times. Its sumit button too leads to errors. After solving offline, I have tried to submit it over 8 times and have been unsuccesful. Of course, it is for free and there are no contractual responsibilities on their part, but my mails a few months back elicited stock answers, but no real change inspite of sending screenshots of the error messages. C'est la vie.

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  14. That Ad you were referring to shows a cheeky counter girl, sipping her TEA nonchalantly and announces on the PAS that this janaab does not know who is !!

    It is for a brand of tea.

    This arrogance of "" Aaap jaante nahi main kau hoon, is typical of bade baapke bigde hue bhache when caught by authorities for misdemeanours or any serious crimes challenging !!

    Today's crossie is a signature grid of Gridman !

    I got CODEINE alright-- where does the bed fit in? -- I see that I NEED sits inside COE .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bed: COT. Footloose: CO minus T
      CO + DEINE

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  15. Deepak & VJ: That Ad is relating to a cheeky counter girl at the airport being told by a VIP, as she nonchalantly and casually sips a cup of tea when he challenges her: Aaap jaante nahin mai kaun hoon ! for which she goes on the PAS and announces that here's a man who doesn't know who he is !! Very pithy !This question is typical of Badelogonke bigde hue bhache challenging the authorities when caught for any misdemeanor or crime.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Raju you have not got his question right, your version translates to 'You don't know who I am' which is a statement, whereas he says ' Aap jaante ho main kaun hoon?' which is a question and means 'Do you know who I am?'

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  16. The ad relates to a brand of tea .

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  17. Today's crossie is a signature of Gridman's grid. Simple yet tricky !
    I got CODEINE alriight . However where does the bed fit in? I NEED sits inside COE !is COE the bed?

    ReplyDelete

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